Hydraulic engine



' Sept. 7, 1937.

7 G. K. PARKER HYDRAULIC ECNGINE 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 Original Filed oct. 21, 1930 D I u INVEY JTOR G4? 0 K. Pal liter BY (9% QAW RN 'nvv'" O 0 MN IQ] Gnu MN 0 RN 0 III. N N QN ATTORNEY Sept. 7 1937.. G. K. PARKER HYDRAULIC ENGINE 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Original Filed Oct. 21, 1930 INVENTQR G00. K. Park er BY um,

ATTORNEY Sept; 7, 1937. G. K. PARKER 2,092,406

.HYDRAULIC ENGINE Original Filed Oct. 21, 1930 3 Sheets-Sheet 5 Far. 3

f9 /Z0 5 I8 Q Q g a e e e Z2 4 23 INVENTOR Geo. KPark er Patented Sept. 7, 1937 UNITED sTATEs ATENT OFFICE Refiled for abandoned application Serial No.

490,217, October 21, 1930.

This application January 11, 1936, Serial No; 58,749

7 Claims. (Cl. 103-77) This invention relates to hydraulic engines of the ram type, the present application being a substitute for my former application Serial Number 490,217, entitled Hydraulic engine, filed October 21, 1930; my principal object being to provide an apparatus of'this general character so constructed as to conserve the discharge or tail water from the engine or ram so that such water may be subsequently used in the operation of the apparatus.

My improved apparatus therefore is especially adapted for the generation of power or for pumping purposes where water is relatively scarce and must be conserved, since I eliminate practically all wastage of such water.

A further object is to arrange a structure for the purpose by means of which the tail water is conserved and returned to the source of supply, using (for this purpose) a relatively small amount of the total energy available through the system.

The preferred form in which the apparatus is built is shown in the accompanying drawings, in which:

Fig. 1is a sectional plan of the engine.

Fig. 2 is a vertical longitudinal section substantially on the line 22 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 3is'an end view of the control valve actuating structure.

Fig. 4 is an enlarged perspective view of a balanced valve member.

Fig. 5 is a sectional view of a water-pressure control valve structure.

Fig. 6 is a side view in diagrammatic form showing the relationship of the engine to the water supply.

Referring now more particularly to the characters of reference on the drawings, the numeral I denotes a pair of feed or drive pipes which depend in spaced relation from a common source of water supply 2, and discharge at their lower ends into separate vertical chambers 3. At their upper ends these chambers are connected to a common air dome 4, normally closed upwardly opening valves 5 being interposed between the dome and the chambers. At their lower endsthe chambers 3 connect" with valve chambers 6 which are aligned and connect withdischarge or tail water passages I. These passages preferably merge into a common passage 8 in which an auxiliary pump 9 is mounted. This pump is preferably of the screw type and draws away from the passages l. The shaft III of this pump projects outwardly of the passage 8 at both ends and at one end is connected to a pulley II or the like, whereby the shaft may be driven by an exterior source of power such as a gas engine or electric motor.

Beyond the pump the passage 8 is connected to a pipe it which extends upwardly to the supply or reservoir 2. A pressure or delivery pipe I3 extends upwardly from the bottom of the air dome to the height to which it is desired to force 01' pumpthe water.

Mounted in the valve chambers 6 and arranged to control the flow of water from said chambers (and the pipes 1) into the passages l are Valves which are of a character such as to be balanced against the water pressure in the drive pipes. Each valve comprises a movable sleeve. member having a plurality of spaced concentric rings it connected by a spider Hi. The slide-rings slidably engage the fixed valve memberwhich consists of similarly spaced rings l6 anda solid head H at the end of said member opposite the passages i; said rings and head being: rigid with the passage walls or with the valve chamberll. The number of the rings and the area of the spaces therebetween are such that this area equals that of one of the drive pipes i, so that no obstruction to the free flow of water through the valve is had when the same is open.

The valves of the two chambers are alternately opened and closed and maintained in this relation by the following means: Secured to the spiders l5 are rods I8 which slidably project through the heads of the valve chambers 6 and into cylinders l9 mounted in connection with said chambers outwardly of the same; said rods having pistons 201slidable in the cylinders. The cylinders are associated with control valve chambers 21 having a number of ports 22; Some of these ports communicate with the cylinder on both sides of the piston and some with the atmosphere. Pressure pipes 23are connected to the Valve chambers 25, said pipes being connected to the drive'pipes or otherwise as may be desired. The flow from the pipes 23 to the respective cylinders is controlled by piston valves 24 which are arrangedrso' that the water will be alternately delivered against one end of the cylinder while permitting said water to discharge to the atmosphere from the opposite end and vice-versa.

1 Stop collars 25on the rods l8 limit the movement of the pistons and consequently the valve rings M, in opposite directions.

The piston valves are moved in opposite directions simultaneously, and alternately so as to control'the corresponding movement of the movable impact valve members by the following means: Provided withthe piston valves and projecting from the outer ends of the chambers 2| are rods 26, which are connected to one arm of separated bell cranks 21, the other arms of which are connected together by a common cross bar 28. This bar intermediate its ends is provided with rollers 29 engaging the opposite sides of a cam 30. This cam is shaped so that with the rotation of the same the bar will be shifted lengthwise in opposite directions alternately, and to an extent sufficient to move the piston valves from one position to the other. The cam is also arranged so that this shifting will take place almost instantaneously.

The cam is operatively connected to the shaft $0 in suitable driving relation therewith and at a desired speed ratio by gearing 3|.

The operation of the structure is as follows: It is to be assumed that the drive pipes I, the tail water pipe l2, and the various pipe and valve chambers connected therewith are filled with water from and are under the pressure of the source 2. The delivery pipe I3 is also filled with water under the delivery head pressure and the air dome is filled with its proper proportion of water and air under the same pressure. It is also to be assumed that the impact valves are in their proper positions relative to each other (that is one opened and the other closed) with the operating mechanism properly positioned to effect this. If the pump 9 is now operated the water in the apparatus will be caused to circulate downwardly through that one of the drive pipes whose impact valve is open, thence through said valve and the pump, and back to the source 2 through the tail water return pipe. It may here be noted that the pump is operated against velocity head and friction losses only. As the impact valve, which up to this time has been open, is closed by the rotation of the cam and the functioning of the parts controlled by said cam, the flow or circulation of the water as above described is immediately halted, thus causing the drive water to discharge a portion of its volume into the air dome in the same manner as in all hydraulic rams. At the same time the other impact valve has been opened and the water from the corresponding drive pipe will, of course, circulate from said pipe through the open valve and pump and back to the source of supply. As

this valve is subsequently closed a portion of the water is discharged into the air dome, as previously described. This cycle of operations only continues as long as the pump is operating, and the operation of the pump is of course continuous as long as the structure is functioning.

It is evident that the unsteady flow to the pump, had by reason of the impact valve operation, should be compensated. This may be easily done by arranging the drive member II on the shaft I!) in the form of a flywheel. It may also be accomplished by arranging the impact valves so that they will open at the instant of a return oscillation of the drive water.

It is to be understood that while I have shown and described a particular type of machine and operating mechanisms therefor, I do not wish to limit myself to these specific structures, since it is obvious that they may be changed in various ways without departing from the spirit of the invention.

From the foregoing it will be noted that the pump 9 is positioned relative to the other parts of the structure in a manner to avoid dynamic fluid pressure occurring within the structure adverse to the prescribed operation of the pump.

From the test figures obtained with the opera tion of certain type of hydraulic ram actually erected for the water department of a Washington city, it was found for instance that with thirty-seven strokes per minute of the ram, operating under a drive head of 48 feet and against a pump head of 128 feet, 2.04 c. f. s. of water was wasted, and only 1.02 c. f. s. of water was pumped. I'o return this wasted water to the source of supply would require approximately 14 H. P. pumping against the drive-head. With my engine on the other hand only 1.3 H. P. at the same efliciency is required to return or conserve the tail water.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:-

l. A hydraulic engine comprising a pair of housings each having an inlet, a separate feed pipe for each inlet, said feed pipes being connected with a source of fluid supply under pressure, an outlet formed in each housing and connected with a common return to said source of fluid supply, an air dome, a fluid discharge connection on each housing and connected with the air dome, continuously operated water impelling means in the return connection, a valve in each outlet and disposed between the water impelling means and the housings, and timed means for intermittently opening and closing the valves in the outlet connections in opposition to each other.

2. A hydraulic engine comprising a pair of housings each having an inlet, a separate feed pipe for each inlet, said feed pipes being connected with a source of fluid supply un-der pressure, an outlet formed in each housing and connected with a common return to said source of fluid supply, a fluid discharge connection on each housing, a check valve in each connection, continuously operated water impelling means in the return connection, a valve in each outlet and disposed between the water impelling means and the housings, and timed means for intermittently opening and closing the valves in the outlet connections in opposition to each other.

3. A hydraulic engine comprising a pair of housings each having an inlet, a separate feed pipe for each inlet, said feed pipes being connected with a source of fluid supply under pressure, an outlet formed in each housing and connected with a common return to said source of fluid supply, an air dome, a fluid discharge connection on each housing and connected with the air dome, a check valve in each connection, continuously operated water impelling means in the return connection, a valve in each outlet and disposed between the water impelling means and the housings, and timed means for intermittently opening and closing the valves in the outlets in opposition to each other.

4. A fluid pumping apparatus of the hydraulic ram type, wherein the fluid medium is artificially accelerated and returned to the source of supply, comprising a pair of fluid supply conduits depending from a common source of supply, a fluid return conduit common to each of the fluid supply conduits and connected with the lower ends thereof, a driven enclosed rotary fluid impeller accelerator having its influent opening connected to said fluid supplying conduits and its effluent opening connected to the lower end of the fluid return conduit, and a mechanically operated stop valve positioned in the lower end of each of said supply conduits.

5. A fluid pumping apparatus of the hydraulic ram type, wherein the fluid medium is artificially accelerated and returned to the source of supply, comprising a pair of fluid supply conduits depending from a common source of supply, a fluid return conduit common to each of the fluid supply conduits and connected with the lower ends thereof, a driven enclosed rotary fluid impeller accelerator having its influent opening connected to said fluid supplying conduits and its effluent opening connected to the lower end of the fluid return conduit, a mechanically operated stop valve positioned in the lower end of each of said supply conduits, an air dome connected with the fluid supply conduits and a check valve on the lower end of each of the supply conduits above and adjacent to said stop valves, each of said check valves connected to and opening toward the air dome.

6. A hydraulic engine of the hydraulic ram type having a fluid supply conduit leading from a source of fluid supply and terminating in a housing having inlet and outlet openings, a returning fluid conduit connected with the housing and leading back to the source of supply, a stop valve interposed between the housing and said return conduit and a driven fluid displacement member positioned in the return conduit between the stop valve and the source of fluid supply.

'7. A hydraulic engine of the hydraulic ram type having a fluid supply conduit leading from a source of fluid supply and terminating in a housing having inlet and outlet openings, a returning fluid conduit connected with the housing and leading back to the source of supply, a stop valve interposed between the housing and said return conduit and a driven fluid displacement member positioned in the return conduit between the stop valve and the source of fluid supply, an air dome connected with the outlet of the housing and a check valve disposed between the outlet and the air dome.

GEORGE KEMPTON PARKER. 

